Yvette T. Butler

Yvette T. Butler is an Associate Professor of Law at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where she teaches Constitutional Law, Critical Race Theory, and Theories of Collective Liberation. Previously, she served as an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law from July 2020 to May 2023.

Professor Butler earned her Juris Doctor from The George Washington University Law School (2014), where she received the First Place and Best Brief Award in the American Bar Association's First Amendment and Media Law Moot Court competition, and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota, Morris (2011).

Her scholarship critically examines how the U.S. Constitution protects or hinders the survival strategies of marginalized groups, with particular focus on criminalization of survival tactics. Professor Butler's research is grounded in contemporary advocacy efforts, especially those involving sex workers and survivors of trafficking. Her work spans constitutional law, critical race theory, and theories of collective liberation, addressing how legal frameworks impact economic security for survivors of violence, police misconduct, and criminal record expungement.

Professor Butler's recent publications reveal a consistent focus on survival labor, constitutional protections for marginalized communities, and the intersection of race, gender, and criminal justice. Her work increasingly examines economic liberty through a constitutional lens and explores liberatory interventions to carceral systems.

• Ben Hardy Faculty Excellence Award for Outstanding Teaching, Scholarship, and Service (2022)
• Inaugural Faculty Diversity Award (2022)
• University of Mississippi Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies Fellowship (2021-2023)
• First Place and Best Brief Award, American Bar Association, First Amendment and Media Law Moot Court (2014)
• American Bar Association, Bureau of National Affairs Award for Excellence in Health Law (2014)

Before entering academia, Professor Butler engaged in extensive legal practice representing marginalized communities. She served as Director of Capacity Building and Systems Change at the Center for Survivor Agency and Justice, Director of Policy and Strategic Partnerships at Amara Legal Center, and as a law clerk to United States Magistrate Judge Wollmann. She is admitted to the District of Columbia Bar and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. At Indiana University, she serves on the Education Policy Committee and advises the Black Law Students Association, while maintaining active roles in the ABA Criminal Justice Section and Lutie Lytle initiatives.